Big Leaguers Notebook: July 6

Red Sox give cancer patients special day on recent roadtrip

 Red Sox stars Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Tim Wakefield, Clay Buchholz, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury gave 35 teenage cancer patients from the Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center an experience they'll never forget on a recent roadtrip to Pittsburgh. "It humbles you. These kids are fighting for their lives, and we're just playing games," said Wakefield, who signed autographs and spent a few moments talking and connecting individually with each of the teens. "It's important to come here and put a smile on their faces." (Boston Globe)

 With the rosters set (MLB.com) and Midsummer Classic patches sewn onto the jerseys and caps of this year's All-Stars (MLB.com), it's up to you to send two final players to the party in this year's Final Vote (MLB.com). Ten players remain in the battle for two coveted All-Star spots (MLB.com). Will it be Arizona natives Paul Konerko and Andre Ethier (The Arizona Republic)? Can Justin Verlander convince you to #votevictor for his backstop Victor Martinez (Twitter)? Maybe a vote for Shane Victorino, like big fan Shaquille O'Neal (Twitter)? You decide!

 Orioles teammates Jeremy Guthrie, Zach Britton and Jake Arrieta made up for a #NocheMala with some Taco Bueno (Twitter), Jesse Crain blew out the candles for his big 3-0 celebration (Twitter) and talking is overrated for Logan Morrison, who plans to "ask [roommate Bryan Petersen] if hes ready to go to the field tomorrow on twitter." (Twitter)

 In New York City, 'greige' is the new black and the trendy new name for dogs and babies is "[Derek] Jeter." (The New York Times)

 Around the diamond, Dan Haren outdueled Justin Verlander with a masterful two-hit gem for his 100th career victory (MLB.com), and outfielder Darnell McDonald earned the save for the Red Sox with a strike from left field (MLB.com). Matt Holliday (MLB.com), Curtis Granderson (MLB.com) and Jason Bay (MLB.com) each ordered up a home run sundae with two scoops.

 Get your popcorn ready. David Ortiz, Adrian Gonzalez, Robinson Cano and long-ball king Jose Bautista are ready to throw down in the desert against Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Matt Holliday and Matt Kemp for ultimate home run glory. (MLB.com)

Tweet of the Day: "How much better do I look in @RickyRo24 sunglasses than he does! #woops yfrog.com/gy66977475j" -- Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil (@CEC0208)

Quote of the Day: "I love working with the community, and I'm more recognized [back home in the Dominican Republic] for that than for what I do in the games, which has made me a really happy person. You play this game today and your career can be over at any second, but I've seen 70-year-old ladies that say, 'That's the guy with the foundation that does open-heart surgery for kids.' These are people who have never watched a baseball game. That makes me feel like I got four homers in a game, and you know that doesn't happen too often [laughing]. I feel like I'm living a dream that I could wake up from at any time, and the one thing I want, when I do wake up, is to feel the same love for people that I do now, and to make sure that my kids have some good things to hear about their daddy." -- Red Sox slugger David Ortiz (Hemispheres Magazine)

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.